DESCRIPTION: This pictorial map, titled The Evergreen Playground, (first state with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge lacking a deck) was published in 1944 by the Kroll Map Company of Seattle. It presents a detailed bird’s-eye view of western Washington, extending from Olympia and Tacoma northward through Seattle and Everett to Bellingham and Vancouver, B.C., and eastward to the Cascade Mountains. The map highlights major highways, railways, ferry routes, and points of interest, emphasizing the transportation network and recreational attractions of the Pacific Northwest at mid-century. Drawn by Ed Poland.
Insets along the borders depict regional scenery, industry, and Native American–inspired motifs. The lower right legend identifies the “Unequaled Transportation Facilities” that connect the area by train, highway, and ferry service. The title panel describes the region as unique in North America for combining sea, forest, and mountain environments within a compact area. Printed in full color with topographic shading and decorative borders, this map reflects the Kroll Company’s skill in cartographic illustration and mid-20th-century regional promotion.
Ed (Edwin) Poland was a long-time chief cartographer at the Seattle-based Kroll Map Company, active from at least the 1930s through the postwar era. Poland’s work for Kroll is characterized by dense place-name coverage, promotional vignettes, and clear drafting that made the firm’s Pacific Northwest maps popular for decades.Kroll Map Company is a Seattle cartographic firm whose roots trace to the 1870s through predecessor outfits Anderson Map Company and Washington Map & Blueprint. In 1911 Carl Kroll—an immigrant who had arrived in Seattle in 1903—launched his own firm after working for Anderson, establishing “Kroll Maps” and beginning a long run of commercial, cadastral, and ownership mapping for the Puget Sound region and beyond. The company became a fixture of Seattle’s mapping trade, producing everything from street maps to large-format atlases used by surveyors, title companies, and planners.
Seattle and King County were central to Kroll’s output. Early “Latest Official Map of Greater Seattle” issues appear from the 1910s, and Kroll’s plat and survey work evolved into township and ownership atlases that documented parcel lines, additions, and infrastructure as the city grew. Today Kroll maintains an archive of historical Seattle maps and offers reprints of vintage sheets—evidence of both their production scale and their long relationship with the city’s development.
PUBLICATION DATE: 1944
GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States
BODY OF WATER: Puget Sound, Pacific Ocean
CONDITION: Fair.
Margins removed to the neatline. Minor repaired tear at bottom left corner.
COLORING: Lithographed color.
ENGRAVER:
SIZE: 32
" x
20 "
ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 130
PRICE: $250
ADD TO CART
|